


You Never Did Tell Me What Happened

by CNote



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Reveal Tease, Ship Tease, post-Christmas Special
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 05:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9058132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CNote/pseuds/CNote
Summary: Something about their fight with Santa Claws doesn't add up. And Ladybug is determined to find out why.





	1. Ladybug

**Author's Note:**

> We all know we wanted this conversation to happen. Marinette is so obsessed with Adrien it's bound to happen. This was originally gonna be a one-shot, but it just keeps getting bigger in my head. Guess I can't write one-shots.

It was done. The akuma had been purified; the city had been put back to normal; and she had even gotten to spend some of her Christmas sitting across from the gentlest boy she'd ever known. So why was she dwelling on it?

Because there was one thing about Christmas Eve and their battle with Santa Claws that didn't add up. She had come across the square and seen the effect of Cat Noir's cataclysm. And right next to it, the card that had been in her gift for Adrien. But there had been no akumatization. Well, not yet.

She had inadvertently caused an akuma, and she didn't want to make that mistake again. So what had happened? When she had asked Cat Noir about it, all he'd said was that it was "a long story." Well, she wanted to hear that long story.

So when Hawkmoth created another akuma less than week after Santa Claws, she was a little bit excited. She knew she shouldn't have been, but the only time she saw Cat was when there was an akuma. And she really needed to talk to him.

One lucky charm and one cataclysm later, and the purified butterfly flew out of Ladybug's yo-yo. They put their fists together for their celebratory "Pound it" ritual, but Ladybug was hesitant to pull away. Unfortunately the beeping of her miraculous told her she was going to have to.

"M'Lady," Cat said. "Your earrings." He leaned in a little and waggled his eyebrows. "Unless you're finally ready to show me."

You had to give it to the boy: he was persistent.

"No," Ladybug said. "But I do need to talk to you about something."

As she said that, Cat Noir's ring beeped.

"Well, then we're gonna have to show each other who we are," Cat said somewhat smugly.

"How about we meet on the roof of Notre Dame in twenty minutes? Is that enough time to feed your kwami?"

Cat's face fell slightly. "Yeah, that should be enough time," he said, trying to be cheerier than he actually was.

Ladybug rushed home. She got through the trapdoor in her room just as her transformation wore off. As Tikki nestled down into her bed, Marinette rushed downstairs to grab some cookies for her kwami. Within minutes she was back in her room climbing the stairs to her bed. She didn't want to rush her little demi-god, but she only had fifteen minutes before she was supposed to meet Cat at Notre Dame. And she  _had_  to have this conversation with him.

Ten minutes later, Ladybug emerged from Marinette's room and swung over to Notre Dame. She surveyed the roof before landing to see if she could spot her partner. When he was nowhere to be seen, she picked out a spot that she thought would be most visible to the punning Cat.

She wasn't there long before she heard a thud behind her. She turned around to see her partner grinning at her.

"Almost didn't make it on time," he said.

"Yeah," Ladybug responded. "I cut it pretty close myself. Maybe half an hour would be better next time."

"So . . . there'll be a next time?" Cat gave a smug smirk.

Ladybug pushed Cat's forehead away with the tip of her index finger. "Don't get too excited, kitty," she teased. "This is business."

"Oh." Cat paused. "So what did you wanna talk about?"

"Santa Claws."

Cat looked at her confusedly. "Yeah?"

"You never did tell me what happened with you and Adrien."

Cat froze. Except for his eyes. Those grew a little wide.

"I told you," he said. "It's a long story."

"Well, we have time now."

"Why do you wanna know?"

Ladybug furled her brow. "It's the one thing about the situation that doesn't add up."

"Whadda you mean?"

"When I heard Adrien was missing, I went out to look for him. I came to the square and saw evidence of cataclysm and a card for Adrien. So I'd thought someCone had been akumatized and taken Adrien and that you had stepped in to help him. But no one had been akumatized, and when I found Adrien, you were nowhere to be seen. So what happened?"

Cat hesitated for a moment as he heaved a heavy sigh. He gave Ladybug an inquisitive look.

"Why were you out looking for Adrien?"

"Are you avoiding answering my question?"

"Are we playing the question game?"

"What?"

"Is that a yes?"

"Will you just answer my question?!"

"Will you answer mine?"

"Enough!"

"You lose!"

Ladybug narrowed her eyes as she glared at Cat Noir. "This is serious. I ended up causing an akuma. Again. I wanna make sure that doesn't happen again. So I need to find out what happened with Adrien. I obviously went to the wrong conclusion from the evidence in the square, but I need to know what the conclusion was I was trying to get to. I need to know what happened so I don't make that mistake again."

Cat's face fell.  "I -- I can't tell you."

"What? Why?"

"You're not ready yet."

"What does that even mean?"

Cat took Ladybug's hand in his and covered it with his other hand. He looked her straight in the eyes as he started to talk. "I'm sure you understand that due to our secret we have to lie to just about everyone in our lives. And even though I can't tell you everything, the one thing I appreciate is that I don't have to lie to you. And I don't wanna start that now."

"Then just tell me what happened."

"That would involve telling you who I am, and you're not ready yet. I know I joke around about it, but I really do want to respect your wishes."

Ladybug took her hand out of her partner's and shook her head. "I don't understand."

Cat put his hand on Ladybug's shoulder. "You will one day, M'Lady."

Even when he was being cryptic, he was still a gentleman. He  _was_ being honest with her. Well, as honest as he could be. And she appreciated that. But she still needed answers. And instead of getting them, she was just left with more questions. What does the events of Christmas Eve have to do with Cat Noir's secret identity? Did he know Adrien?

She wasn't sure what to say. Except for maybe one thing. "Thank you," she breathed.

Cat just smiled at her.

"I should get going," she said.

"Yeah, me, too."

She watched as Cat jumped off the roof of Notre Dame and helicoptered himself onto the next roof. She unhooked her yo-yo and swung to her house disappointed. She needed answers. If she couldn't get them from her partner, maybe she could get them from Adrien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on vacation and writing every chance I get. Chapter 2 should be out soon.
> 
> This is not or will not be an identity reveal. Instead it's going to be one of those close calls we all hate with a passion.


	2. Marinette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Ladybug can't get the answers she "needs" out of her partner, Marinette decides to try a different approach.

"You can do this. You can do this," she kept telling herself. Marinette had been telling herself that for the week leading up to school resuming after Christmas break.

Now would've been a good time to have Alya cheering her on, but it wasn't like she could just tell her best friend that she needed to tie up this one lose end from Christmas Eve. And she certainly couldn't tell her why.

If it had been anyone else, she wouldn't have had a problem. Well, maybe Chloe. But that was something a visit from Ladybug could fix.

But this was Adrien: the boy she'd been crushing on since the third day of school; the boy who made her stutter; the boy who made her trip over her words and her own two feet. Saying a simple, "Hi," to him was a challenge. How was she supposed to find out what happened on Christmas Eve?

She had to. She couldn't be responsible for another akuma. She just couldn't.

"You can do this. You can do this." She silently told herself as she walked up to the steps to school.

She almost didn't hear Alya calling to her. "Girl!" she said as caught up to her on the steps. "Where were you?"

"Lost in thought."

They continued walking, heading to the locker room.

"Thinking about Adrien?" Alya smirked as she raised her eybrows.

"Yeah. I . . . I've decided I'm going to talk to him today."

"You decide that every day."

"Yeah, but today's gonna be different. I've spent a week psyching myself up. I'm gonna do it today."

"You've been psyching yourself up for a week? And you didn't tell me?!" Alya asked incredulously. "We hung out practically every day during the last week! How could you not tell me you were planning this?!"

"I guess it wasn't really on my mind --"

"Until today. When it became real."

"Yeah," Marinette said sheepishly.

"Don't worry, girl. I got your back."

"Thanks, Alya."

They had gotten to the locker room at this point and went to each of their separate lockers. After they had switched out the books they needed, they met at the exit of the room and proceeded to class. They walked up the stairs to their desk, Marinette still silently telling herself, "You can do this. You can do this."

Alya must have been a mind reader or something because she started whispering the same chant to her almost in sync with her thoughts. "You can do this. You can do this."

No sooner had Alya said that than Adrien and Nino walked in to the classroom.

"You can do this. You can do this," Alya had continued chanting, still eerily in sync with her thoughts.

"Hey, guys." Adrien waved as he sat down.

"H-hi," Marinette waved shyly to her crush. "H-how was your break Christmas? I mean, your Christmas break?"

"It was pretty good," Adrien responded. He rubbed the back of his head. "Once I got past the whole Christmas Eve debacle."

"Hey," Alya asked, narrowing her eyes, "what did happen with you on Christmas Eve?"

There were days where Alya's inquisitive nature was a little annoying. Today was  _definitely_ not one of those days. She was getting right to the point Marinette needed. Maybe she should have let Alya in on her plan a little sooner. Then again, how would she have explained to Alya why she needed to know what happened without telling her she's Ladybug?

Adrien gave the web journalist a somewhat surprised look and which quickly changed to a slight frown. "I'd rather not talk about it," he said.

Marinette could tell the conversation was already over. As intrepid a reporter Alya was, she knew when to drop the investigation. At least with the prime witness.

What was she supposed to do now? If Adrien wouldn't talk about it with Alya, he certainly wouldn't talk about it with Marinette. She needed to find out what happened. And she had to get it from the source. Hearing from Alya what she found out from Nino just wasn't gonna cut it this time.

Wait! That was it! If Adrien had talked to anyone about what had happened, it would've been Nino. There were times where Nino could be just as persistent as Alya. And if she knew Alya, she was bound to corner Nino at the lunch break make him spill. That would be her opportunity. Maybe if she could get Adrien alone she could get him to talk about what happened.

Which left her with the same dilemma from earlier: how was she supposed to talk to him without tripping over her words?

"You can do this. You can do this," she began to chanting to herself in her head.

"Marinette!"

Her head shot up to see Madame Bustier looking at her with her arms crossed. She was so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed that class had started.

"What did I just say?"

"Uh," Marinette stammered out.

"Please pay attention to the lesson, Marinette."

"Yes, Madame," she said as she hung her head in shame.

It was gonna be a long day. She spent the time before the lunch break trying to pay attention. Or at least trying to  _look_ like she was paying attention. She was having a hard time with either.

After what seemed like an eternity of lectures and assignments, lunch break finally came.

"I have some investigating to do," Alya said to her friend as she eyed Nino with her peripheral vision. (Thank you for being true to who you are, Alya!) "I'll text you later."

Nino had walked out of the room already with Alya quickly following his trail. As much as she wanted to see and hear this conversation, she had more important business to tend to.

"You can do this. You can do this."

Soon it was just her and Adrien left in the classroom.

"You can do this. You can do this."

He had finished packing up his things and was heading for the door. She had to act now or she'd never get the chance.

"Um Adrien?"

Adrien turned around to look at her. "Yeah, Marinette?"

"Do-do you, um, w-want to walk to the, uh, lockers together?"

"Sure."

Marinette caught up to Adrien and they walked out of the room together. Well, in typical Adrien-gentleman fashion, he stopped at the door and motioned for her to go first. She felt her cheeks get a little warm as she walked through. Why did he have to make her blush when she needed to talk to him?

"So, how was your Christmas break?" he asked.

Thank you Adrien for starting the conversation she needed.

"Um, it was pretty good. Alya and I hung out a lot, so it was a lot of fun. How about you?"

"It was OK. I had a lot of photoshoots. So I was pretty busy."

"Oh." Awkward silence. "Hey, so what happened with you on Christmas Eve?"

Adrien sighed. "I'd really rather not talk about it."

"Oh." She had to think of something fast. She was already losing him. And she needed to find out what happened. She hated lying to him, but she had no other choice. "It's just . . . that . . . Ladybug came to see me over the break about the gift I gave you for Christmas. She was trying to figure out what happened in the square on Christmas Eve."

Adrien turned to look at his classmate. His lips parted a little as his eyelids peeled back slightly to reveal more of those gorgeous greens. "Ladybug came to you?"

It looked Adrien was deep in thought about something. What on earth was he thinking about?

"Um, yeah," Marinette finally managed to get out. "She said that the card from my gift to you was next to a destroyed pillar. She was pretty sure it was Cat Noir's cataclysm, but there hadn't been an akuma at all that night. Well, not yet."

Adrien turned so he was facing forward again. Except this time his eyes faced the floor. "It's a long story," he mumbled.

The same answer Cat Noir had given her as Ladybug. What was it with these two? Did they decide together to say that or something?

"Well, it's lunch break. We have some time."

Adrien furrowed his brow. Was he processing something she was saying? Did she say something wrong? Maybe she was sounding like Ladybug that night a week ago, but how was he supposed to know?

Maybe she needed to change her tactics. "I-I know we don't know each other that well, but I do . . . care . . . about you. And when I heard that you had disappeared on Christmas Eve, I . . . I got worried. I'm glad you're safe now, and everything's OK, but I still think about that night."

Adrien turned and looked at her, a mixture of pleasure, concern, and curiosity plaguing his face. "I . . . I needed to get out."

Now it was Marinette's turn to furrow her brow.

"It . . . it's my first Christmas since . . . my mother disappeared. And . . . I thought my father was just gonna spend it by himself. I . . . thought he didn't care about me. So I sneaked out. To get some air, ya know? Clear my head. I . . . was trying to work off some of the anger." He paused as if thinking of what he was going to say next.

Marinette could tell this was hard for Adrien. She felt bad about bringing up painful memories. But she had to know what happened in that square. She felt horrible about it, but she pressed further as sympathetically and delicately as she could. "The square?"

Adrien took a deep breath as he hesitated. "I found myself in the square. And that . . . was when I came past Cat Noir. Apparently, . . . he had been going through a . . . similar situation, . . . and he had taken it out on a post. We talked and . . . realized that going out didn't do anything for our anger. . . . So we decided to go home.

"I had been such an idiot, though. I was in such a rush to sneak out that the only thing I had brought with me was this present my bodyguard had given me. I didn't even have a coat or anything. So I opened the present, and it was the hat that I'm assuming you'd made for me."

Marinette nodded in agreement.

"Cat Noir and I parted ways, and . . ." he rubbed the back of his head, "I guess I was in such a rush that I left the card in the square next to the post Cat Noir had destroyed. And as I walked home, I came across that Santa. He gave me a pep talk and took me home. He wasn't doing so well, either. So I gave him the hat you made. When I got home, Ladybug showed up and said he was an akuma. And before I could explain it to her, Nathalie was rushing me inside. And well," he rubbed the back of his head again, "I guess you know the rest."

"Yeah," Marinette said. Better than he realized. She hated the look that was on his face right now; a look of sadness. She hated even more that she was the one responsible for it.

Adrien turned to leave, but she couldn't let him leave with that look on his face.

"A-Adrien?"

He turned around to look at her, his face a mixture of sadness and curiosity. "Yeah, Marinette?"

She looked down at her shuffling feet. "I'm-I'm sorry. . . . For bringing this up."

He smiled softly at her. (Oh my gosh! Adrien Agreste was smiling at her!) "It's OK. You were just concerned." He paused for a moment. "And hey, I'm sorry about the hat you made me. I don't know what happened to it after the battle."

Marinette looked up and beamed a bright smile at Adrien. "It's fine, Adrien. These things happen."

"Well, I'll see you after the lunch break," the blonde said as he held the door to the locker room open for Marinette.

The bluenette could feel her cheeks getting warm again as she walked through. "You, too," she managed to squeak out.

 

* * *

 

"Pound it!" Ladybug and Cat Noir said simultaneously as the disgruntled transit worker returned to normal.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_ The beeping of Cat Noir's ring echoed in both his and Ladybug's ears.

"Well, it looks like I gotta split," he said.

"Can you wait for just a minute?" Ladybug said.

Cat looked at his partner with a perplexed look on his face.

"I just . . . wanted to apologize for last week. I . . . talked to Marinette, and I . . . found out what happened, and . . . well, I didn't realize that it would be difficult for you to talk about. So I'm sorry for pushing last week."

Cat smiled a familiar smile at Ladybug. "It's OK, Bugaboo. You were trying to learn from your mistakes. I can't really fault you for that."

"Cat?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you can't tell me everything, but if you ever need to talk about things, I'm willing to listen."

Cat smiled again. "Thanks, M'Lady."

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_ This time it was Ladybug's earrings that the duo was hearing.

"I guess we really should get going," the red-clad superheroine said.

Cat give his two-fingered salute and winked. "Until next time, M'Lady." And he jumped up onto a rooftop.

Ladybug unhooked her yo-yo from her belt. "Until next time."


End file.
